Female Entrepreneurs Find Funding Community In NYC

By Rich Schapiro (Reporter, New York Daily News)
When Ellie Cachette started pitching her tech startuup to West Coast investors two years ago, she expected to raise big bucks. Instead, all she got from the roughly 25 all-male investors she met with were dismissive looks and patronizing advice.

“I wouldn’t even finish my sentence, and they’d say I should be a nonprofit,” said Cachette, now 26, who was building a startup designed to help companies manage product recalls. “I found it impossible to raise money.”

So Cachette made a bold decision: She headed to New York to test the waters of the city’s burgeoning tech scene.

The gamble paid off handsomely. Within seven months, Cachette had raised $200,000 from eight investors, garnered features in two top business magazines and was selected to ring the NASDAQ’s opening bell.

“The tech scene in New York is just a lot more female friendly,” said Cachette, CEO of ConsumerBell. “You actually have a fair chance here. Investors are willing to look past your gender.” New York is quickly establishing itself as the place to be for women seeking to launch tech startups, experts say.